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Review of Love and Monsters (10th Doctor)

This episode is a change of pace for the show, featuring a monster designed by a child for a Blue Peter competition. There are lots of references to previous episodes in this one. Okay, it’s my least favorite episode of the season…but on to the discussion anyway.

Episode:Love and Monsters by Russell T. DaviesRating (1 to 5): 2 (I like ELO, so that nudged it up a bit.)Baddie: Victor Kennedy/The AbzorbaloffRose is trapped: nowhere this time around.The Doctor is trapped: nowhere is this episode.The Doctor enjoys: nothing specific this time. (Elton likes football, a drink, Spain, and ELO)The Doctor dislikes: nothing specific this time.Doctor-y Strangeness: The Doctor may be sweet and passionate…but that doesn’t mean he’s nice.Scary Stuff: The Abzorbaloff.Does someone local help out? Well…sort of Elton? Weird episode…hard to say. All of the members of LINDA in the end.What we learn: The Torchwood files are lacking in information about The Doctor’s companion. This was caused by the “Bad Wolf” virus. Rose lives at #48. Jackie keeps Rose’s room nice and ready in case she stops by. The twin planet of Raxacoricofallapatorius is…Klom.My Favorite Bits: Elton’s love of ELO. The hall full of doors scene. Jackie following the steps of espionage before Elton can. Everyone’s attempts to come up with something to call the Abzorbaloff. The “impossible task” of finding Rose Tyler.

Observations and musings:

This episode was a bit of a departure from the usual Doctor Who up to this point. We don’t see very much of The Doctor or Rose this time around. Jackie gets a fair bit of air time, though. It was entertaining to see how many references to other episodes you could find. Elton was out shopping when the Autons attacked. Twelve months later, Elton was in town in time to see the spaceship from “Aliens of London” hit Big Ben. The following Christmas, Elton’s windows blow out and he sees the “Christmas Invasion” spaceship. When Elton is done fixing Jackie’s washing machine, she mentions that Mickey is gone. The time with LINDA (London Investigation N Detective Agency) is referred to as “The Golden Age.” The use of music in this episode is really kind of fun. The Doctor’s Theme turns up quite a bit (when he is being talked about). Elton’s theme music is all ELO (I’m pretty sure, anyway.) There is also some weird X-files-ish music when Mr. Kennedy is talking to Mr. Skinner and one point later on. The episode gets a bit dark at the end there. (Hey Elton! Don’t bring me down!) You get destroyed if you touch The Doctor even for a second? The world is so much stranger that you are told when you are a kid? And Elton has never even met the folks from Torchwood. Yeah…I don’t have that much to say this week. Though, did y’all notice that Rose seems to be Good Cop to The Doctor’s Bad Cop?

Whochick is a huge Doctor Who fan. She loves the show so much that she not only co-authors a blog on the topic, but also a podcast that you should listen to. Whochick resides in California with her husband (the Shadow Architect), and occasionally refers to herself in the third person.